


just a boy and his cat

by wokeboke



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cats, First Meetings, M/M, for cashepar week 2019! super late though, gratuitous descriptions of loving cats
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:35:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21729148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wokeboke/pseuds/wokeboke
Summary: The fact is, Ashe falls for cats. He falls hard.The owners of those cats? Sometimes they're not as friendly, but this one in particular is the exact opposite.Or: it all started with the cat.
Relationships: Caspar von Bergliez/Ashe Duran | Ashe Ubert
Comments: 3
Kudos: 31





	just a boy and his cat

**Author's Note:**

> this is super late but I still wanted to participate! caspar and ashe are my two favourite characters so there's no way I want to miss it
> 
> gonna try to do all seven except string them together in a nice cohesive au storyline so. watch out

_“Mew.”_

Ashe froze, key half-inserted in the lock, and turned around slowly. Sitting at the bottom of the porch stairs was the most relaxed-looking tabby cat he had ever seen, and as he watched, it licked a paw and drew it over a twitching ear, all the while retaining piercing green eye contact.

He put down his school bag slowly, crouching down. He had no idea why this cat had suddenly decided to enter his life, but by the goddess, he was going to give it all the love it deserved and more.

With bated breath, he held out a hand, palm up, unsure of whether to approach or wait for the cat to come to him—if it even would.

By some sort of goddess-driven miracle, the cat sprang up onto the first step, then the second, then the third, until it was sitting by his shoes, gazing at him expectantly. It tilted its head in the _cutest_ possible way, as if to say, _I’m right here, human! Where’s my reward?_

“Thank you, Goddess,” Ashe muttered in quick prayer after breathing again, because things like these didn’t happen without divine providence. He reached out and stroked its furry little head until it closed its eyes and started purring.

The cat didn’t have a collar, he noticed. It butted his hand, which had gone limp for a second. He smiled and resumed petting its head.

“Are you a stray?” he murmured. “Who would ever want to let you go?”

_“Murp,”_ it said, getting comfortable on Ashe’s front porch. His heart melted instantly.

“LINNY! THERE YOU ARE!”

Ashe tipped over backwards, knocked back by the sheer power of the accusation that was about three times louder than it needed to be in such close proximity. The cat jumped as well, leaping onto the porch railing in a single bound.

The source of the explosion of voice was a boy, about the same age as him, shorter and with mussed up, strangely-coloured teal hair. He had the slightly wild and disheveled look of either a feral animal or someone who had been running for a long while—likely the latter, if his audible panting was of any indication.

“Is-Is this your cat?” Ashe asked feebly, picking himself off the ground. His voice sounded tiny in comparison.

The cat meowed at the boy disdainfully, then turned and leapt right at Ashe. He flung out his arms reflexively and caught it. He could feel its warmth through his hoodie as it snuggled comfortably into his left arm.

He looked up to find the boy staring right at him with an indescribable emotion etched on his face. Disbelief, perhaps?

“OhgoddessI’m _not_ athiefandthisisyourcatisn’tit,” Ashe blurted out, all in one breath. “I’m so sorry; you can have your cat back!”

“Do you know her?”

Ashe stopped on the porch landing where he had hopped down. The boy’s head was tilted and Ashe couldn’t help but notice that he looked remarkably like his cat in that pose.

“I’ve…never seen her until right now?” Ashe said, focusing on little details about him. It was amazing what difference a few tail-lengths could make—the boy was wearing a black-and-white uniform with a chest emblem that Ashe couldn’t recognize, and three different coloured stripes underneath that emblem—three stripes for three years? In that case, they would be the same age, going to different schools, which would explain why Ashe hadn’t seen either cat or boy before in his life.

The boy stomped forwards and Ashe braced himself for some kind of retaliation, but none came when he simply joined in petting his cat, cheeks flushed and looking oddly determined. “Linny doesn’t usually take so nicely to strangers, so I was just curious. She really likes you.”

If there was such a thing as ‘angry walking,’ then this boy would be the embodiment of it. “I, um, really like her too!” Ashe replied, feeling incredibly awkward as he stood there holding someone else’s cat while that someone else was petting the cat.

They stayed like that for a few moments, in the afternoon sun on Ashe’s porch, but a few moments were already a few moments of silence too much. The boy didn’t look like he was about to speak anytime soon and Ashe’s arms were getting tired. Finally, he burst out, “I haven’t seen you around either, um, what school do you go to?”

“Oh! Uh…” The boy shook his head like a dog shaking off water, as if he was awakening from a trance. “I’m in some academy school. You probably haven’t heard of it. I’m Caspar, by the way, and this is Linny!” He grinned and held out a hand to shake, then seemed to realize that Ashe’s hands were currently full of fluff and settled by patting his elbow instead. “Oops. Anyone who my cat likes is probably cool, so nice to meet you…?”

Ashe was finding it hard to respond, as Linny had clambered onto his shoulders and started to lick his cheek. “Ashe! I’m Ashe. Um, nice to meet you and your cat too!” _Caspar_ , Ashe repeated in his head. Kinda like the friendly ghost, except the boy in front of him was thoroughly tangible.

“Looks like Lin’s really going for it, huh,” Caspar commented, eyeing Ashe’s giddy smile as the cat continued to lap at his face. “Didja roll in some catnip or something earlier?”

“No, I—” Ashe turned his head as Linny started licking his other cheek—“all I did was come home from school! Does she usually do this to strangers?”

“Heck, she doesn’t even do that with me!” Caspar exclaimed. “You’re like a natural-born cat whisperer! This can only mean one thing!”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Ashe began, but Caspar was having none of that.

“I have to get your number! So you can see her again!”

He had pulled out his phone and was now offering it in an earnest prayer-like motion. Ashe’s hands were still full, but who was he to say no to a boy and his cat?

“Um. Okay,” Ashe conceded. “Could you—er—hold—?”

Caspar’s eyes widened as his mouth opened in a shout. “Wait, really!?” He held out his hands for Ashe to tip a very annoyed-looking Linny into, then replaced the warm cat with his phone. It was already open to a new contacts page.

_He’s very excitable,_ Ashe thought, watching Caspar bound around with his cat in his arms. _If he doesn’t mind me, then…?_

“Hear that, Linny? You just made a new friend!” With Caspar cooing in the background, Ashe put in his number and saved it, then as an afterthought, put in his name as well. People always forgot the ‘e’ at the end of it.

“Here you go,” Ashe said, offering the phone back. “Should I put it in your pocket, or…”

“Oh—YES! Thank you so much! I’ll just—up you go—” He heaved the cat into the cradle of one arm—one strong-looking arm, if Ashe had to describe it—and took the phone, flipping through it and grinning. “I’ll definitely text you!”

“I can’t wait,” Ashe said, and he was pleased to find that he meant it. He was already missing Linny’s weight in his arms, and her purrs rumbling against his chest, and…Ashe really loved cats, okay?

“Neither can Linny,” said Caspar, taking one of Linny’s paws and waving goodbye with it. “I have to go, but…I’ll see you?”

“Yeah!” Ashe smiled. “Um, can I pet her again? One last time?”

_“Mrow,_ ” went Linny. “Well, there’s your answer,” Caspar said. “She _really_ likes you. Like, _seriously_ likes you.”

“Her love is fully reciprocated,” Ashe said honestly, stroking her head before backing up, climbing the steps to his front door. “Sorry for keeping you. I’ll see you around!”

Caspar looked like he wanted to say more, but he didn’t. “’Bye, Ashe!”

And with a grin and a final wave, he hopped down and disappeared from view, leaving Ashe with a slightly empty feeling and a burning desire to adopt a cat.

It wouldn’t be the last of them, he somehow knew. At least that was something to look forward to.

**Author's Note:**

> visit me on tumblr @wokeboke!


End file.
